More About Michelle Jing Chan (She/Her)

Michelle Jing Chan is a queer Chinese American author-illustrator who studied engineering and economics, but now spends her days creating art and stories.

Michelle gravitates towards empowering books that celebrate diversity and self-acceptance –books she would have loved to read as a kid! Her work has been featured in the Wing Luke Museum, Buzzfeed, and Upworthy. She has illustrated books for Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Bloomsbury, Hachette, and Lerner. Her illustrator debut picture book, MOONLIGHT MEMORIES written by Amanda Davis, was the winner of Hindi’s Libraries Females of Fiction - Best Picture Book of 2023 award.

In addition to picture books, Michelle also creates comics. Her debut YA graphic novel, SOMEWHERE IN THE GRAY, will be released in 2026 from Farrar Straus Giroux BFYR / Macmillan.

When she’s not drawing, Michelle is petting the neighborhood cats, obsessing over a book, or binge-watching spooky TV shows. Visit Michelle at www.michellejingchan.com or on social media @michellieart.

She is represented by Jemiscoe Chambers-Black at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

You can find Michelle online at:

www.michellejingchan.com

Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Threads | BlueSky

Michelle’s strengths are…

• Portraying abstract emotions in an impactful visual way

• Navigating the creation process from both the author and illustrator sides

• Intentionally and effectively paring down text

• Honing in on the heart/main theme of the story and helping it shine through every page

• Guiding aspiring creators through the querying process

• Developing a strong picture book illustration portfolio

• Creating sequential illustrations with clear composition and page turns

• Critiquing individual illustrations, including hands-on critiques such as draw-overs

• Providing detailed, actionable, and tailored feedback

What Michelle is looking for…

Michelle is looking for a mentee who is passionate and serious about building a career in traditional publishing and is seeking to learn and improve through this program. She is open to creators who have multiple manuscripts or ideas in the works. Michelle would love to work with a mentee who is curious about the business side of publishing, from querying an agent to the submission process and beyond. Potential mentees should be open to feedback, willing to work at their craft, and interested in navigating the publishing industry long-term. Michelle encourages creators from marginalized backgrounds to apply, especially BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ creators. Authors, author-illustrators, and illustrators are all encouraged to apply.

A Note from Michelle:

“Thank you for considering me as a 2024 mentor! Everyone has a unique set of experiences and a story that only they can tell, and I would love to learn more about your background, personality, and story in your application. Please be specific about what your goals are for this mentorship so that I can gauge how best to serve you as your mentor and whether we would be a good fit.

Also, please keep in mind that any creative field is so subjective, including publishing! Creating art and books takes so much courage, dedication, and vulnerability, and you should be immensely proud of the steps you've taken thus far to put your story out into the world.

Looking forward to reading your application and wishing you all the best in your publishing journey!”

Michelle’s Picture Books

Michelle’s Upcoming Picture Books:

If Michelle created a Visual Wish List, it would be made up of…

*Unless otherwise stated, the below serves as a wish list only. Each mentor is excited about the opportunity to find a manuscript they can’t stop thinking about.

Manuscripts or illustrators with unique art styles or comic-inspired styles like these:

Manuscripts with heartwarming multigenerational relationships like these:

Manuscripts with beautiful, lyrical text like these:

Manuscripts that celebrate LGBTQ+ identity like these:

Manuscripts that weave an emotional story about historical events or figures like these:

Manuscripts with magical or whimsical elements like these:

Michelle is a good fit for…

• Intergenerational stories

• Lyrical manuscripts

• Stories about cultural traditions and/or food

• Magical and whimsical stories, especially ones based on folklore or mythology

• Biographies and historical nonfiction

• Graphic or comic-inspired picture books (think LIFT by Minh Le and Dan Santat)

• Social-emotional learning stories about topics like grief that are difficult to discuss

• Stories with LGBTQ+ themes

• Digital illustrators or illustrators who work with traditional paints of any kind

Michelle is not a good fit for…

• Rhyme

• STEM books

• Illustrators who have a collage or cut paper style

• Books with religious themes

• Potty humor

• Over-the-top humor

• Books where an animal is the only main character

Who can apply to Michelle? Unagented AND Agented illustrators and author-illustrators.

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